


you ought to give me wedding rings

by carrieevew



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bellarke Babies, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27406984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrieevew/pseuds/carrieevew
Summary: “Bellamy and Clarke had a baby at 18 and so with everything going on they never got around to getting married. Now Bellamy enlists the help of their 6 year old to propose.”
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 26
Kudos: 184
Collections: The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative





	you ought to give me wedding rings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BellamyWanheda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BellamyWanheda/gifts).



> written as a part of [the T100 Writers For Black Lives Matter Initiative](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com). visit us on tumblr to learn more about the project and maybe prompt us something!
> 
> title from [The Book of Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTVpoT82toY), the Peter Gabriel version.
> 
> enjoy!

Clarke woke up slowly and that in itself was a pretty good indicator that something was different about that day. It was an early Saturday morning and yet, she was in bed alone and no hyper 6-year-old boy had come running, jumping in.

She stretched and grabbed her phone from the nightstand to check the time. Her eyes nearly jumped out of her head when she saw that it was nearly 11 o’clock. How on Earth did Bellamy get up and keep Noah quiet for so long, she’ll never know. Usually, their son is already waking them up at 8 am at the latest, demanding to be fed but this morning, the house seemed suspiciously quiet.

For a split second, Clarke stiffened, thinking that something may have happened but that passed quickly. Ever since Clarke told her 18-year-old boyfriend that they’d become parents sometime around their high school graduation, Bellamy had become the most attentive and considerate person she could’ve imagined when it came to their child and if there really was a problem, he never would’ve just left her to worry about anything. Which meant that if she was able to sleep in so late, that was by design.

And sure enough, the mystery was solved when Clarke came down the stairs and entered the kitchen. The was a fruit salad waiting for her, their dog was sleeping in his bed and there was a note saying that Bellamy had taken Noah to visit his mother and that they’d be back by lunch.

Clarke checked the kitchen clock, poured herself a glass of orange juice, grabbed her breakfast and went over to the living room, where she sat down on the couch and turned the tv on. Their dog, Vincent, raised his head when he heard her shuffle around the house but they just exchanged a look and he went back to sleep. Clarke chuckled.

If she and Bellamy rolled their eyes at their son’s habit of waking them up early on the weekends, their dog was more than entitled to the same attitude. After all, the German Shepherd slept under Noah’s bed almost every night and logically, he became the first casualty of the boy’s love of an early morning.

Finally, she decided on some old comedy she couldn’t remember the name of, settled against the couch with her coffee and took a deep breath. If she had a late morning off, she wasn’t going to question it.

***

“Aww, honey,” Aurora gasped, looking at her son with tears in her eyes. Bellamy rolled his eyes good-naturedly and accepted the hug his mother gave, Noah still on her hip. He put his arm around his son and they all laughed when Noah complained about getting squished.

Aurora put the boy down and disappeared down the hall, while Bellamy sat down in an armchair, putting his arms out, helping Noah climb into his lap. With his son settled, Bellamy leaned back and his eyes immediately wandered to a framed picture sitting on the credenza—of his mother sitting in that very same chair, pregnant with Octavia, Bellamy perched on her lap, his this arms hugging her belly. It had always been one of his favourites but ever since Noah was born, Bellamy loved it even more. He hoped that somewhere down the line, he and Clarke would have more kids but first things first.

He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts by Noah, wriggling about. Bellamy smiled and put the boy down on the floor. Without a glance at his father, Noah chased after his grandma, knowing very well were the treasure chest was—also known as a box of Bellamy’s and Octavia’s old toys. Taking advantage of the moment alone, he took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the _Prom Night_ group chat.

He and Clarke didn’t think that their high school friend group would survive graduation, not with the two of them taking care of a new-born and the rest of them moving on to college or just away but by the end of their senior year, all of their lives and plans seemed to have changed and it was best shown by the fact that nearly every one of them skipped their prom.

Clarke was seven months pregnant and welcomed that excuse to stay at home and even if Bellamy had wanted to go without her (which he obviously didn’t, pregnant or not), he was too busy stressing out that she would go into labour every time she sneezed, to even _think_ about the prom.

With Raven still in cast after breaking her leg, Jasper and Monty suspended after getting caught making moonshine in the school’s science lab and Miller just generally uninterested in participating, only Murphy went – and only because he’d already invited Emori and paid for his rented tux. And later, despite their initial plans to scatter after high school, almost everyone stayed within the driving distance of home and wonderfully, they all stayed friends.

A year later, when Noah was already walking and almost talking, they all decided to organise the prom they never had and it’s been their tradition ever since. Every year, they threw a party in Abby Griffin’s enormous garden, dressed in fancy clothes and spiked the punch they insisted on having. It was the best idea they ever came up with.

Bellamy scrolled down the conversation, reading the messages his sister was sending them with design ideas. Finally a senior herself, Octavia decided that if her school’s prom committee didn’t want her help, she’d take her skills elsewhere – and demanded to be added to the conversation. Unsurprisingly, she took most of that discussion directly to Clarke, the only one in their group with any artistic talent whatsoever, but they both graciously agreed to keep the rest of them in the loop about all the major decisions. Not that it really mattered to the rest of them, they’d all given those reins to Clarke long ago.

At the very bottom of the conversation, there was a short message from Murphy, saying that he had a surprise for all of them. Bellamy smirked at his phone. Whatever Murphy was planning, there was no way he could beat the surprise Bellamy was planning for Clarke.

As if on cue, his mother came back, with Noah again in her arms and a small, velvet box clutched in one of her hands.

“You really shouldn’t carry him anymore, Mum,” Bellamy said, taking Noah from Aurora. As always, there was a small toy in his grasp, this time an old stuffed hippo that Bellamy had bought for Octavia when she was 8 and broke her arm. There was even a small piece of cloth still wrapped around one of the hippo’s legs, simulating a cast to match Octavia’s.

Bellamy considered just bringing the box of toys back to their house one day but it seemed that for Noah, the best part had always been the opportunity to dig through the box, pick one of the toys and try and sneak it back home with him. He was never very good at the ‘sneaking’ part, especially when he chose one of the larger toys, but they all pretended not to notice that he smuggled something new, just to humour him.

“I’m not so old that I can’t hold my grandson, Bell,” Aurora scolded, shaking her head but Bellamy didn’t miss the grunt of relief when Noah’s weight had been taken from her. At 42 she was no-where near old, sure. But the cancer she’d battled a few years back had taken a lot of her strength away permanently and Bellamy worried. No matter how insistent she was that everything was fine, he stiffened every time she so much as frowned, which was why Clarke always joked that he would go grey by the time they’re 30.

Bellamy opened his mouth to say something but him mother didn’t let him. She just put her hand on his elbow and pulled him closer, to show him what she’d brought. He smiled and turned to Noah, who was rubbing his small finger over the velvet of the box.

“What do you say, Noah? You think your Mum will like it?” he asked, smiling at his son. Noah looked away from the box and to Bellamy with a big grin, showing off the gap where his front teeth used to be. Bellamy chuckled. “Yeah, I think she’ll like it, too.”

***

The preparation for their party were in full swing when Murphy called Clarke in the middle of her lunch hour, asking how long before the party he needed to confirm whether or not he’d be bringing a plus one.

“Dude, it’s literally a garden party at my mother’s house,” Clarke grumbled, trying not to choke on her food. “If we have more people than we expected, we can just pull up a chair.”

She let out a small laugh but there was a silence on the other side of the line and that worried her a little. Murphy had always been the most nonchalant of them all but ever since Monty announced that Harper was pregnant, something changed in him. He’d always been a cool uncle, willing to babysit whenever it was needed but recently, he started seeking Noah’s company more and more, and Clarke couldn’t help the thought that maybe he was thinking about a family of his own. Not that she’d ever openly ask him about it, she knew better than to be blunt and scare him off.

“John?” she singsonged, knowing that using his first name was a sure-fire way of getting a reaction. And sure enough, there was a huff of the other side.

“How did you and Bellamy managed to stay together after high school?” he asked and there was something in his voice that made her sit up straighter.

“You mean besides a screaming child that bound us together for the rest of our lives?” she joked but didn’t wait for his answer. “I don’t know _how_ , really.” She let out a long breath. “I just remember, after Noah was born and we had no idea what we were doing, I would look at him sometimes and think—I’m so glad that he’s here and we’re doing it together.”

Murphy hummed into the phone but said nothing.

“I know it’s probably not very helpful but you know, when I told him I was pregnant, I was so scared what would happen, cause we were still just stupid kids but he was there, we both were. It wasn’t always easy but every day, we chose to be there, to do this together and at some point, I don’t know how to describe it, but I realised this was it. That he was it for me and I wanted to have him for the rest of his life.”

Clarke smiled to herself, her spare hand immediately grabbing the tiny dove neckless that Bellamy gave her after Noah was born.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Murphy finally said. “That wasn’t very helpful.”

Clarke snorted. “I might try harder if you actually told me what we’re talking about.”

Murphy blew a raspberry. “I’m just wondering if it’s possible to still want the same person after all this time and the shit that happened in between,” he said. Clarke rolled her eyes. So much for explaining.

But she didn’t say that, sensing that Murphy was serious, for once in his life. And she wanted to help, if she only could. “If you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about,” Clarke began, shaking her head at herself. But if he wasn’t going to say her name, she wasn’t either. “Then I think it’s worth a try. If you really want it, then why not.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Murphy said, cryptically. But that was Murphy is all his glory.

“Just so you know, there are some nice, secluded places in my Mum’s garden, perfect for long, serious conversations,” she reminded him and laughed when he ended the call with a string of expletives in lieu of a goodbye.

***

Abby sat side by side with Noah at his desk, hunched over in the tiny chair, listening to her grandson as he described how he thought the garden should look like for his parents’ party. Bellamy stood in the doorway, smiling, while Noah drew the colourful balloons, huge cakes and something that looked a lot like a Megazord, sitting at one of the tables.

Bellamy snickered when he saw that Abby hid her face in Noah shoulder, her body shaking with barely-contained laughter, and Noah kept on going unperturbed, describing the slides and swings he believed were necessary for the party to be a success.

“You sure you’re not describing your dream birthday party by any chance, hun?” Abby asked, looking over Noah’s shoulder onto the drawing and when Bellamy came closer, he sure as hell noticed those not-so-discreet presents scattered around in the grass. He and Abby looked at each other knowingly but Noah just shrugged.

“If you think so, Grandma,” he mumbled. Bellamy had to cover his mouth with his hand to stop himself from laughing. That kid sure as hell got all the good genes from both families.

Abby patted Noah on the elbow and pointed to Bellamy with her head. “Come on, honey, your dad’s back, we can all talk about the party.” She waited until Noah put his coloured pencils away and hid the drawing, so Clarke wouldn’t find it, then they both got up from their seats and followed Bellamy to the living room.

Noah climbed onto the small step stool, pulled a notebook from between two of his books and brought it back to the coffee table. He opened it to the only pages filled with writing. The list wasn’t long but written in his large, wobbly letters, it took two and a half pages.

He took an pen that Bellamy handed to him and crossed off another position. Ring – tux – place, those were all taken care of. There were still quite a few things for them to do, though.

“I was thinking, Clarke obviously knows that you will be taking care of Noah but my Mum mentioned she’d like to be there as well, I could text her when the party’s in full swing, so she could come by unnoticed,” Bellamy proposed.

“Yes, of course,” Abby nodded. “If you don’t mind, I know there are a few other people who’d love to come, congratulate you.”

Bellamy rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. “You are so much more confident in Clarke’s answer than I am, you know.”

Abby shot him and unimpressed look, one eyebrow raised. She then looked sideways at Noah, who sat down beside her and once the next empty page in his notebook was filled with doodles, he moved the drawing to his bare knee and then Abby’s forearm. She took it in stride and asked her grandson.

“Well, Picasso, what do you think your Mum is gonna say when Dad asks her to marry him?”

Noah’s head shot up, a huge smile on his face. ”Yes!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms up. Abby waved her hand at him and turned back to Bellamy.

“See, listen to your son,” she instructed. “And don’t worry. I may not see eye to eye with my daughter about a few things, but believe me, I know very well how much she loves you.”

Bellamy swallowed thickly, suddenly not sure what to do with himself.

He didn’t have the easiest relationship with Abby at first. She wanted Clarke to focus on school, on getting into a good college, so when she found out they were going to have a baby, things got even more tense and difficult. All three of them said some unpleasant things but in the end, Clarke was an adult, capable of making her own choices and as headstrong as ever—and she and Bellamy decided to keep the baby. With time, they all learnt how to be a family and thought Abby didn’t say it often, he knew she was happy with how things turned out—because Clarke was happy.

Still, even after all this time, hearing Abby say such things so casually gave him pause. It helped in the moments of doubts, when he wondered if he was good enough for Clarke and Noah.

As if she heard them talking about her, suddenly Clarke came through the front door, Vincent following in her footsteps, the dog still panting after their usual morning walk. Clarke froze mid-step, when she saw the three of them inside.

Noah yelped, seeing his mother and shoved the notebook under one of the pillows. Abby snorted lightly at him and got up, going over to Clarke. She hugged her, momentarily distracting her from the scene in the living room.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Mum, but what are you doing here?” Clarke asked, eyeing her mother.

“I had a morning off, I figured I’d come by and see my family,” Abby explained, putting a hand on the small on Clarke’s back and leading her to the kitchen.

Clarke hummed, suspicious, but let her mother guide her while she kept talking.

“So, tell me, sweetie. How are you doing with your prom preparations? I saw you brought some decorations the other day? I’m sure the decor will be beautiful.”

Abby’s voice faded when she and Clarke got to the kitchen. Noah sighed deeply, his small body landing against the pillows heavily. Bellamy came up to his son and ran his hand through the mess of his dark curls, laughing when Noah started grumbling.

***

On the day of the party, Abby’s house turned into the staging area for all of their friends. The boys took over the guest room, while the girls occupied Abby’s bedroom and the master bathroom.

Noah was already in the living room, singing along to Moana, and when the time came, Abby was there to do Clarke’s hair and make-up. It was an unexpected tradition she and her mother had developed when Clarke was still pregnant and was trying to get ready for graduation. Abby saw her struggling with her hair and offered to help. And then again a year later, when Clarke was getting dressed for their first unofficial prom.

And so it went, year after year, Abby curled and styled Clarke’s hair. And every time, they both remembered when Clarke was little and Abby would cut her hair herself, always in a style that Clarke hated but one that was the easiest to maintain.

Only this year, Abby was suspiciously quiet. Clarke didn’t mention it at first, thinking that maybe her mother had something else on her mind but when they moved on to the make-up and in the middle of putting on eyeliner, Clarke noticed how glassy her mother’s eyes had gotten, she started to worry.

“Mum?” she asked, putting her hand on Abby’s wrist. “Are you okay?”

Abby sniffled a little and blinked the tears away. “Yes, of course,” she assured Clarke but her daughter still looked unconvinced. Abby patted her knee and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Clarke. I promise, everything is alright.” She smiled. “I just look at you, all grown-up with a family of your own, and I can’t believe how quickly it’s all gone.”

Clarke chuckled. “It had gone a little quicker for me than others,” she said with a smirk but she knew what her mother meant. Sometimes, she looked at her own life, at Bellamy and Noah, and wondered how lucky she was that by a complete accident, she ended up with exactly what she wanted.

And despite what Abby might’ve said at first, how she worried that having a kid at such a young age would change her life in ways that Clarke couldn’t have even predicted, much less prepared for, there was no doubt now, that she was happy for Clarke.

Damn, now Clarke was tearing up.

They both laughed, then. Abby handed Clarke a tissue, so she could dab at her eyes, and went back to applying the rest of the make-up. When she was done, she got up, stood behind Clarke and caught her eye in the mirror. Clarke smiled at her mother but her brow furrowed lightly when she saw the odd look on Abby’s face.

But before she had the chance to ask her what that was about, Raven rushed into the room, hollering at Clarke to hurry up because Murphy’s surprise just arrived.

***

Bellamy hadn’t relaxed the whole evening. The box was burning a hole in his trouser pocket and no matter how many times he tried to take Clarke away somewhere private and just ask her already, something always interrupted them.

Emori’s arrival he could forgive. They hadn’t seen her since she broke up with Murphy three years ago and left, to take a new job halfway across the country. So naturally, when she arrived as his plus one, everyone jumped on the two of them, asking all kinds of questions—Bellamy included.

Only then, it was Jasper who nearly knocked over one of the tables during his drunken dance routine. With Harper now three months pregnant and Monty declaring that he’d stay sober in solidarity, Jasper decided he wouldn’t let all that alcohol go to waste and after a couple of hours, he was already going nuts on the dancefloor—and everywhere else, so it seemed.

Finally, when it was already dark and they had dealt with all the clothing emergencies, almost all the food had been eaten and Aurora had texted him that Noah was falling asleep but refusing to go to bed, Bellamy finally managed to convince Clarke to take a walk with him and led her to an old gazebo, away from the house.

“Can you believe that Murphy and Emori and actually back together?” Clarke asked, shaking her head a little. “I mean, I pretty much knew that he was going to do it but it’s one thing when he just talks in vague hypotheticals and completely another that she’s here, you know?”

But Bellamy didn’t know. Frankly, he barely even listened and Clarke noticed. She frowned and turned around to face him. Her dress had sequins sawn in and they were reflecting the light from the fairy lights that Abby had strung under the ceiling. She looked absolutely beautiful and Bellamy had every intention of telling her that. Once he figured out where his voice went.

Clarke cocked an eyebrow and propped her hand up on her him. “Bell? You okay?” she asked. “You’ve been distracted all night, you think there’s anything more sensational that those two getting back together?”

Bellamy cleared his throat and pulled the box out of his pocket. He opened it up and showed the ring to Clarke.

“I don’t know but I was hoping this might be,” he said, his voice hoarse. Clarke dropped her hand from her waist and with it came her jaw. She looked at him, unmoving, eyes wide open.

Bellamy took the ring out and gently took her left hand in his. Immediately, her fingers clenched around his like a vice. Clarke closed her mouth and swallowed.

“Do you remember when Noah was born and I asked you to marry me?” he asked and waited for her nod. “We decided that we’d wait until he’s old enough that we could leave him with our mothers, so we could go on a honeymoon.”

Clarke nodded again.

“Then, before we knew, years went by and we were still waiting.” Bellamy took a deep breath and stepped a little closed to Clarke, their joined hands between them. He brought the ring up higher and Clarke’s eyes darted to it for a split second before she looked back at him.

“Well, I don’t want to wait any more. I love you so much, Clarke. You and Noah are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

He took another deep breath. Now or never.

“Will you marry me?”

Clarke didn’t say anything for one, two heartbeats. And then, she let go of his hand and threw her arms around his neck, crushing him into a tight hug. His arms went automatically around her back, hugging her close. They were both quiet for a moment, until Bellamy felt something wet on his neck and realised that she was crying.

“Clarke?” he asked, both confused and a little alarmed.

She let go of him and pulled away, wiping the tears from her face. Bellamy let go of a breath when he saw she was smiling.

“Well, if we want to go on a honeymoon now, we might have to hurry,” she said quietly.

Bellamy screwed up his face, even more confused. Clarke let out a watery laugh, took his hand and guided it to her belly. There was a something so vulnerable in her eyes that he didn’t really get it at first. But then—

“You’re pregnant?” Bellamy breathed out. He clenched his fingers around the ring, worried that he might drop it from shock. Clarke nodded her head.

They both laughed. Bellamy wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her into his embrace, lifting her off the ground.

“Wait, was that a yes?’ he asked into Clarke’s neck. She was wrapped around him, laughing into his shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled widely. Bellamy put her back down.

“Of course, Bell,” she whispered.

With shaking hands, Bellamy finally put the ring on Clarke’s finger. She brought her hand up to examine it more closely and her eyes filled with tears again when she recognised the ring as Aurora’s. His mother used to wear it on a necklace around her neck and Clarke was always mesmerised by how beautiful it was. And Bellamy knew that his mother was more than happy that she could pass it on.

They stayed in the gazebo for a little while longer, just holding each other, until Bellamy announced that they had a bit of a crowd waiting for them—including their stubborn son, who was already half-asleep on his feet.

They took the long road back to the house, walking slowly and holding hands.

They were so lost in each other that they nearly missed Murphy and Emori stumbling out from the bushed, they clothes half-undone and hair dishevelled.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this! thank you so very much for reading. comments and kudos will be welcomed like manna ;-)  
> come and find me on tumblr @[carrieeve](https://carrieeve.tumblr.com).


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